Compare the2023 Audi A4 AllroadVS 2023 Chevrolet Blazer

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Audi A4 Allroad have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Chevrolet Blazer doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The A4 Allroad’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Blazer doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the A4 Allroad and Blazer have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The A4 Allroad has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Blazer’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The Audi A4 Allroad has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Blazer doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

The A4 Allroad has a standard Audi Backguard System, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Audi Backguard System moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The Blazer doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The A4 Allroad has a standard Secondary Collision Brake Assist, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Blazer doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the A4 Allroad. But it costs extra on the Blazer.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the A4 Allroad’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Blazer doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

Both the A4 Allroad and the Blazer have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Audi A4 Allroad is safer than the Chevrolet Blazer:

	A4 Allroad	Blazer
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Hip Force	308 lbs.	369 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	12 inches	13 inches
Hip Force	666 lbs.	695 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its available headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the A4 Allroad the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2022, a rating granted to only 155 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Blazer last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.

Warranty

The A4 Allroad comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire car and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Blazer’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The A4 Allroad’s corrosion warranty is 6 years and unlimited miles longer than the Blazer’s (12/unlimited vs. 6/100,000).

Reliability

The Audi A4 Allroad’s engine uses a cast iron block for durability, while the Blazer’s engines use an aluminum block. Aluminum engine blocks are much more prone to warp and crack at high temperatures than cast iron.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Audi vehicles are more reliable than Chevrolet vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Audi 3 places higher in reliability than Chevrolet.

Engine

The A4 Allroad’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 33 more horsepower (261 vs. 228) and 15 lbs.-ft. more torque (273 vs. 258) than the Blazer’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder. The A4 Allroad’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 3 lbs.-ft. more torque (273 vs. 270) than the Blazer’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the A4 Allroad gets better mileage than the Blazer:

			MPG
A4 Allroad
	AWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	23 city/30 hwy
Blazer
	FWD	3.6 DOHC V6	19 city/27 hwy
		2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	22 city/29 hwy
	AWD	3.6 DOHC V6	19 city/26 hwy
		2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	22 city/27 hwy

Transmission

The A4 Allroad offers a standard sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The Blazer doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

The A4 Allroad’s launch control uses engine electronics to hold engine RPM’s precisely in order to provide the most stable and rapid acceleration possible, using all of the available traction. The Blazer doesn’t offer launch control.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the A4 Allroad’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Blazer:

	A4 Allroad	Blazer
Front Rotors	13.3 inches	12.64 inches
Rear Rotors	13 inches	12.4 inches

The A4 Allroad’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Blazer are solid, not vented.

The A4 Allroad stops much shorter than the Blazer:

	A4 Allroad	Blazer
70 to 0 MPH	152 feet	165 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	119 feet	126 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the A4 Allroad has larger tires than the Blazer (245/45R18 vs. 235/65R18).

The A4 Allroad’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Blazer’s standard 65 series tires.

Suspension and Handling

The A4 Allroad has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Blazer’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

The A4 Allroad has a standard driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads. The Blazer’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

The A4 Allroad Premium Plus executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1 seconds quicker than the Blazer RS 4x4 (26.3 seconds @ .69 average G’s vs. 27.3 seconds @ .67 average G’s).

Chassis

The A4 Allroad is 4.3 inches shorter than the Blazer, making the A4 Allroad easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The A4 Allroad is 8.2 inches shorter in height than the Blazer, making the A4 Allroad much easier to wash and garage and drive (lower center of gravity).

Cargo Capacity

A low lift-over trunk design makes loading and unloading the A4 Allroad easier. The A4 Allroad’s trunk lift-over height is 26.1 inches, while the Blazer’s liftover is 30.3 inches.

Towing

The A4 Allroad’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Blazer’s (3968 vs. 1500 pounds).

Servicing Ease

The engine in the A4 Allroad is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the Blazer. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because there are no rear spark plugs and the accessory belts are in front.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Audi service is better than Chevrolet. J.D. Power ranks Audi 8th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 13% lower rating, Chevrolet is ranked 16th.

Ergonomics

The A4 Allroad Prestige has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, warning and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Blazer doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The A4 Allroad’s front and rear power windows all open or close with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside of the car. The Blazer’s passenger windows don’t close automatically.

If the windows are left open on the A4 Allroad the driver can close them all at the outside door handle or from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can lower the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Blazer can only close the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The A4 Allroad has a standard locking fuel door with a remote release located convenient to the driver. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank. The Blazer doesn’t offer a locking fuel door.

The A4 Allroad’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Blazer’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the A4 Allroad to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The Blazer doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The A4 Allroad’s available headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Blazer’s headlights are rated “Marginal” to “Poor.”

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The A4 Allroad Prestige has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The Blazer doesn’t offer headlight washers.

To help drivers avoid possible obstacles, the A4 Allroad has standard cornering lights to illuminate around corners when the turn signals are activated. The Blazer doesn’t offer cornering lights.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the A4 Allroad to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Blazer doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The A4 Allroad Prestige’s Park Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Blazer doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Audi A4 Allroad and the Chevrolet Blazer, based on reliability, safety and performance.